Patrol April 13th, 1969

1st Recon Battalion

Lee Larsen

It started with talk that we were going to start running patrols off of Hill 200 and I was to be on point. Since being assigned to Bravo Deuce in Nov. ‘68, Hill 200 was mostly a welcome break from our normal routine of long range reconnaissance patrols. I walked point for 6 months on many patrols and never failed to bring the entire team back from every single one of them. I had a bad feeling about this patrol, so bad that I didn’t want any part of it. Alarm bells were going off in my head and they wouldn’t stop. Everything was screaming “bad idea”. It wasn’t like our trips down to the watering hole, about as far as we normally ventured outside the perimeter. I wasn’t alone in my feelings about that patrol. Every single man on that patrol felt the same way and we all shared our apprehension with one another. I wanted to take my Thompson M1A1 on that patrol because though it was heavy, it was short and maneuverable for the jungle and wasn’t a .22 caliber. Riley nixed the idea but never said why. We headed out off the hill and down and past the LZ. We disappeared off the right side of the mountain where we encountered a steep ravine. We continued down the mountain just left of the ravine until we hit a small shallow stream and followed it to the right. By then I was starting to pickup little tell-tale signs that we might not be alone but unable to tell how recent. Walking the stream bed we had dense foliage on both sides. We continued until we came upon a very small patch of land on the right and that’s where I spotted an opening to a tunnel dug into the side of the stream bed. I pulled up there and waited for the lieutenant. I was handed a .45 and a flashlight and went on in. I cursed my heart for pounding so hard because that’s all I could hear as I explored the interior. Back then flashlights weren’t much brighter than a Zippo lighter and afforded me about 8 feet of vision in both directions of the tunnel. Thank God I didn’t have to use that .45 pistol in such cramped quarters, it would have been LOUD. After finding nothing inside (thank you Lord) we decided it was a good time to take a break. It was at this time when team members started coming up and asking me to end this patrol and return to the OP, everyone was on-board. (We were about to come to a clearing that was going to expose us and compromise our position. Without the benefit of cover and concealment we may as well as have been running naked and shooting flares because the base of the hill belonged to Charlie and we knew it.) I talked to Lt. Riley and told him that we were ending the patrol and heading back. We continued down the stream until we hit the river and followed it to the right and found us on a lightly used trail. My thoughts were to go up the front of the hill towards the watering hole which was about half-way up to the perimeter. We came to a raised area covered with thick grass about 3-4 feet tall. It was so thick I couldn’t even see the tops of my boots. I stepped up and started walking through the grass, got about 20 feet and there was a huge explosion. The concussion blew me down to my knees and knocked the M-16 from my hands. I could barely hear anything at that point. About the same time, I was getting choked out from the CS grenade that detonated on Lt Riley’s cartridge belt, I could hardly breathe. With no wind, the CS cloud just hovered above the ground. Finally, it dissipated enough that I could breathe. I heard Lt Riley shout out, “set up a 360” and I yelled, “No, there may be more booby traps”. With no subsequent explosions or gunfire I determined we were not under attack but stumbled into a possible mine field. At that time, I had no idea I had been hit until everything I was wearing was turning red and I could feel the strength starting to drain from my body. I think everyone was rightly concerned about Lt Riley and didn’t know I was hit so no one came over to me. Soon, I could hear the whop, whop, whop of the medevac chopper coming in for a landing. After about 5 minutes I could hear someone whistle and yell, “Come on, Larsen”. At that point, I could only raise my arm and wave. They got back off the bird to come get me and put me face down on a stretcher and the bird took off. I heard someone say, “Oh, my God” and felt pressure on my back. During the trip I could hear the sound of thunder as I slipped in and out of consciousness before we landed on the deck of the USS Repose. As much as it rained, it was the first time I actually heard thunder on my tour. Because I was so cold from the loss of blood, they completely covered me with a poncho liner on the chopper. On the deck of the Repose I could hear someone say, “This one’s dead”. I pulled the poncho liner back and said, “The hell I’m dead”! The next thing I remember was someone saying, “Do you feel this? How about now, do you feel this” and I was wondering who he was talking to and why wasn’t the guy responding. I opened my eyes and at the foot of my bed was a doctor, poking a needle in my feet. I never felt it.

Funny thing about that explosion, I felt as if the entire burden of the war and walking point was lifted from my shoulders and it settled an argument I was having about faith as the first words out of my mouth as I buckled to the ground was, “Oh, my God”.

 

Lee Larsen

1st Recon, Bravo Deuce ’68-’69

 

It was my responsibility to find that IED and I didn’t. That’s on me, not you. Unless someone had a metal detector, no one would have found it other than the way we did.

November 11, 2020

"Both pictures of me were taken on that patrol off Hill 200 about 20 minutes before IED incident by Lt Riley"

 

Semper Fi, Lee Larsen

Hill 200

Lee Larsen

photo gallery

Thanks for the photos Lee